Physical Sciences Centre
The Physical Sciences Centre is one of 24 subject centres within the Higher Education Academy of the United Kingdom. It provides discipline based support for learning and teaching in UK higher education in chemistry, physics, astronomy and forensic science.
The Centre is based at the University of Hull, with staff there and at the universities of Liverpool and Surrey. The director is Professor Tina Overton.
Mission
To enhance the learning experience of students in the physical sciences by address the needs of the subject community and relevant stakeholders.
Events
The Centre organises a range of events throughout the year including workshops and seminars. They are responsible for three annual discipline specific education conferences (the Physics Higher Education Conference, Variety in Chemistry Education and the Forensic Research and Teaching Conference) and jointly organise the biennial Science Learning and Teaching Conference.
Resources
These include databases of practicals, examples of effective practice, learning and teaching activities and outcomes of funded development projects (see Funding below).
Publications
The Centre produce a range of publications all at no cost to the UK higher education community. This includer their newsletter Wavelength and journal Reviews. Publications are available in hard copy format or can be downloaded from their website. A mailing list exists for those who wish to receive all materials as they are published.
Funding
As well as highlighting external sources of funding the Centre funds a series of development projects each year, focussed on learning and teaching. The outcomes of these projects are made available to the UK higher education community free of charge.